Carolyn Keene - The Clue in the Crumbling Wall

"You know where the hole is in the beach wall? Somebody came through it."

"How do you know?"

"Footprints. Want to see 'em?"

"Okay." Cobb sounded concerned. "If anyone is on these premises, we'd better find out about it."

"Maybe the place is being watched! I'm clearing out of here!" Biggs added.

"Don't be a fool!" Cobb replied. "If anyone came into the gardens through this passageway, he's got to go out the same way. All we have to do is watch the hole and we'll catch him."

The two men followed Teddy around the curve. When their voices died away, Nancy and the girls stepped from their hiding place.

"The boy was Teddy Hooper," Nancy said thoughtfully. "I wonder how he got mixed up with these men."

"Never mind him now," Bess said anxiously. "We must get out of here somehow, and fast!"

"As long as the men stay on the beach, we're pretty safe," Nancy replied. "But I'm worried about Salty. If only we had some way to warn him!"

"But how can we?" Bess asked. "Those men might pounce on us if we try to go."

"There's one possibility," George announced, pointing to a stone stairway between two of the columns which were intertwined with vines. "See if there's a way out through these."

The girls managed to force two of the heavy vines apart. Below them lay a small tangled garden.

"We can squeeze through here," Bess said. "Come on!"

"You go ahead," Nancy said. "I'll get the metal box."

A few minutes later she wriggled between the vines to join her friends. Eagerly they explored the little garden. It had sheer walls on three sides, too high to climb. They could not find a single opening!

Bess sat down in the middle of a weed-grown path. "I'm so discouraged I could cry," she admitted.

"Maybe a drink of water will revive you," her cousin suggested practically.

On the rear wall of the garden hung an artistic fountain from which spouted a little stream. Bess walked over to it and drank freely. "It's wonderful water," she said. "And cold. Must come from a spring."

Nancy and George cupped their hands and filled them several times. "It certainly tastes different from River Heights water," Nancy declared. "And you're right, it's delicious."

She was about to drink more when she spotted something on the crumbling wall just beneath the fountain. Parting the vines to get a better view, Nancy stared in astonishment.

"Girls, look! On the wall!" she exclaimed.

The vines had grown over a small block of cement which had been set into the stones. In it was the imprint of a woman's shoe. Beneath had been chiseled a single word: Cinderella .

"Cinderella's dancing slipper." George laughed. "Whoever would do such a crazy thing?"

"I'm not sure it was crazy," Nancy replied. "It's rather romantic and may have been Walter Heath's way of paying a compliment to Juliana. Don't you recall that note I found in his handwriting which began 'Dear C'?"

"C could stand for a dozen other names," George said.

Nancy measured the dainty little shoe print with her hand. "But if it's Juliana's, it could be the clue Walter Heath mentioned in his will! He said she would be able to identify herself in a special way, and this could be it, couldn't it?"

"The print is very small," Bess admitted. "Not many girls wear such a tiny size."

"If we've really stumbled upon a secret, Nancy, we mustn't breathe a word of it!" Bess warned. The other girls agreed and carefully covered the imprint with the vines.

"I wonder if there's anything of value hidden behind the cement block," Nancy mused.

"We can't find out today," George said. "We'd have to use tools to move it."

"It would be just our luck if Cobb and Biggs decide to smash the fountains," Nancy said. "Then we'd be too late." Suddenly she stiffened. "I hear someone!"

The girls became aware of a loud creaking noise from the cloister. "The rear castle door," whispered George.

Instantly they thought of the vines they had torn apart to get into the garden. Whoever was going in or out of the castle might notice the opening and come to investigate!

"Quick!" Nancy directed. "Lie down here in the tall grass and weeds!"

Bess and George flattened themselves on the ground. Nancy darted behind a bush leafy enough to hide her but not too thick to block her view. A man, slightly stooped, came through the parted vines. He paused to examine them.

Nancy's heart stood still. He was Daniel Hector! The lawyer peered into the garden, but evidently saw nothing unusual, because he went on toward the beach.

"Let's go!" Nancy whispered jubilantly a moment later. "The cloister entrance to the castle may have been left unlocked!"

The three girls stole noiselessly along and eventually reached the castle. The door was indeed unlocked. It made such a loud noise when Nancy pulled it that she feared the sound would carry to the men.

"What a weird place!" George commented as they hurried inside. Nancy led the way through the long winding corridor toward the front hall.

"Let's get out of here as soon as we can," Bess urged.

Nancy was fairly familiar with the floor plan and found the main entrance. It was locked, but the key she had fitted.

"At least we can get out," she said.

"No, no," Bess interrupted. "Hector probably has a guard on watch."

Not paying heed to her cousin's warning, George peeked outside, then stopped short. "Oh, oh!"

"What's the matter?" Bess asked, following her. Tied at the foot of the steps were the two huge dogs the girls had met before. They began to growl menacingly.

"Well, hello, old fellows, we meet again!" Nancy called cheerily.

But her friendly attitude did not work this time. The animals would not allow the girls to descend.

"You try it alone. Nancy," Bess suggested.

Nancy had no success. "The hounds are acting very strangely," she whispered. "What can be wrong? The other day they let me pass." She shitted the metal box under her arm and the animals growled even more fiercely.

"Why, maybe it's this box," she said. "The dogs think I'm trying to steal something from the castle!"

Telling her friends she would be right back, Nancy ran inside. In a minute she had emptied the box of photographs and the diary and stuffed them under her sweater.

"Now where can I hide the box?" she thought. Nancy caught sight of a narrow door, partially open. "That'll do," she decided.

As she placed the metal container on the floor of the closet, she heard footsteps not far away. Someone was coming along the winding corridor!

She hurried outside. The dogs growled but Nancy was determined to pass by them. She ran down the steps, her friends behind her. Bess was fearful, but tried not to show it. The hounds bayed loudly and the next second Mr. Hector's figure framed the doorway.

"Hey, you!" the lawyer shouted furiously. "Stop! Stop!"

The girls ignored him. As Hector ran down the steps to untie the dogs, he tripped over the long rope and fell down on his face.

Nancy urged her friends to run faster while the man bellowed in pain.

"Quick! To the wall!" she panted, holding the treasure close inside her sweater.

CHAPTER XV Salty's Plight

The three girls raced madly to the front wall of the estate. Clutching vines to pull themselves up, they reached the top and scrambled over. Then they paused for breath.

"What a narrow escape!" Nancy murmured. "Daniel Hector saw me!"

"Did he recognize you?" Bess asked.

"We have never really been introduced and I only turned around briefly when I first realized he was there."

"What did you do with the metal box?" Bess queried.

"I hid it. But not these." Nancy produced the photographs and the diary from beneath her sweater. "I still have the evidence!"